Leslie Bibb’s face from ‘The White Lotus’ spawns the ‘Coming out as a Trump voter’ meme
The Coming Out As A Trump Voter meme uses a screenshot from an episode of The White Lotus to mock people who hide their political views. Posts on X pair the shot of actress Leslie Bibb playing the character Kate Bohr with things that a closeted conservative might say or do, such as diverting the conversation when the topic of President Donald Trump comes up.
The White Lotus meme spread soon after the episode "The Meaning of Dreams" from season 3 aired. It follows a similar meme featuring the character Victoria Ratliff, played by Parker Posey, from the previous episode.
What is the 'Coming Out As A Trump Voter' meme?
This Leslie Bibb meme features a screenshot of the actress as Kate in episode 3 of the latest season of The White Lotus squinting with an insincere smile and a glass of rose next to her. Social media users, especially on X, might pair this with a hypothetical right-wing quote like "your portfolio didn’t go up as much as the market when it was going up, so it must be down less than the market now, right?"
Originally, use of the image largely ignored its original political context. People used the meme to show the expression they might make in any situation where they feel the need to display insincere happiness, approval, or acceptance.
Politically minded people took it up a bit later, especially to poke fun at closeted right-wingers. Conservatives also adopted it to show how people react when others learn certain details about their lives, such as dealings with cryptocurrency.
Meme origin: 'The Meaning of Dreams'
The White Lotus episode "The Meaning of Dreams" aired on March 2, 2025. In one scene, the characters Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie sit down to dinner together and get into a debate about Christianity. Kate reveals that she regularly attends a church in Texas, which shocks the other two, who are clearly left-leaning.
This leads to Jaclyn and Laurie questioning how she deals with talking to her fellow church-goers about politics and Donald Trump, and Kate asks why it should be a problem. She denies being a Republican, calling herself an Independent. Finally, Laurie asks, "You didn't vote for Trump, though, did you?"
That's when Kate makes the face.
"Are we really gonna talk about Trump tonight?" she asks, instead of saying "no."
The first White Lotus Leslie Bibb memes and spread
The next day, X user @MDSVeritas used the screenshot to gripe about their work as a video game programmer, writing, "you did have QA do a pass on this before you submitted it though, right?"
The post got very little traction, but on March 4, user @PeterTwinklage helped turn it into the definitive Coming Out As A Trump Voter meme with the comment, "'fiscally conservative and socially liberal' guys on Hinge." This one got over 449,000 views and 22,000 likes.
Political and non-political use of the White Lotus meme has continued strong into a second week.
The Parker Posey meme
Bibb isn't the only White Lotus actress to get the meme treatment from season 3. Parker Posey starred in a similar gag featuring a screenshot from episode 2, "Special Treatments." Her spaced-out smile has been strongly associated with the use of anti-anxiety medications, specifically the benzodiazepine Lorazepam.
On Feb. 24, the day after the episode aired, X user @tweetsbybob_ posted the screenshot of Posey with the comment, "If I send you this it means I need a lorazepam." They got over 945,000 views and 27,000 liked for the trouble.
Coming Out As A Trump Voter meme examples
Related memes:
- ‘Do you know these gays?’: How Jennifer Coolidge and ‘The White Lotus’ season 2 took over TikTok
- The ‘Jamaican Smile’ meme is ripe and ready for public consumption
- The Smiling Dolphin meme is actually a porpoise and he’s tired
- ‘Trump supporter’ gets upset people are pointing out he’s a Trump supporter
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
The post Leslie Bibb’s face from ‘The White Lotus’ spawns the ‘Coming out as a Trump voter’ meme appeared first on The Daily Dot.